The Czech media is reporting that Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar will be released on bail and allowed to return to their home in the Czech Republic. The video game developers have been imprisoned in Greece since September 2012 on charges of espionage. The two were vacationing in Greece and were arrested for allegedly photographing military installations on the Greek island of Lemnos.
The developers will have to pay 5,000 Euros each for bail. Reports state that the families of Buchta and Martin are prepared to pay the money. That doesn’t end the court case, however. Greek judges are currently on strike, and the Greek justice system is in disarray, so the case has not been formally resolved.
Buchta and Pezlar are developers employed by Bohemia Interactive, the developer of the Arma series. Arma 2 became one of the best-selling PC games of 2012 when a mod for the game called DayZ was released. Day Z features a large sandbox map in which player must survive during a zombie outbreak by foraging for food and supplies and by avoiding, killing, or teaming up with other players.
A standalone version of Day Z is currently being developed by Bohemia, but has been delayed. One cause of the delay is that Buchta is the lead designer of the map used in Day Z. His release could mean development on the standalone could speed up.